I recommend Bick4. I might have been one of the first to recommend it...quite a ways back in this thread. As far as waxes or polishes are concerned, I use cremes very very sparingly or not at all on my own shoes and Angelus wax when bulling, but only on the toe and heel--where the leather doesn't flex. But I don't really think it matters--they're all somewhat occlusive and equally bad for the reasons I mentioned above..

I think probably the best advice overall is simply to brush your shoes daily--keep them clean

I agree and also use Bick4.

For polish, I mainly just use creme polish. I've used Saphir as well as Meltonion and haven't had a problem with either, even though the Saphir gives more to the pigment of the shoe.

I only use wax on the toe and heel as well because the leather doesn't flex and these are the areas that commonly take the most direct trauma to the shoe when walking.

In the end, keeping the shoe somewhat moisturized (like human skin), protected when not being worn (in a shoe bag), and brushed before and after wears (to remove dust and dirt particles) are the most important to keep the shoes going on as long as you can.

The rest basically is just making them look better with more pigment and a nice shine!

For polish, I mainly just use creme polish. I've used Saphir as well as Meltonion and haven't had a problem with either, even though the Saphir gives more to the pigment of the shoe.

I only use wax on the toe and heel as well because the leather doesn't flex and these are the areas that commonly take the most direct trauma to the shoe when walking.

In the end, keeping the shoe somewhat moisturized (like human skin), protected when not being worn (in a shoe bag), and brushed before and after wears (to remove dust and dirt particles) are the most important to keep the shoes going on as long as you can.

The rest basically is just making them look better with more pigment and a nice shine!

I would just say for the sake of clarity, that I use Bick4 pretty regularly Once a month? But it is, in no way, oily greasy or waxy. so it is not going to collect or hold grit.

I think there are too many products out there that carry fancy names and fancier price tags that, if truth were known, it would be better to use nothing (and just brush regularly) than to use those.

I would just say for the sake of clarity, that I use Bick4 pretty regularly Once a month? But it is, in no way, oily greasy or waxy. so it is not going to collect or hold grit.

I think there are too many products out there that carry fancy names and fancier price tags that, if truth were known, it would be better to use nothing (and just brush regularly) than to use those.

agreed! Bick4 is pretty regularly used for me too, but not much else except for the creme polish once in a while (couple times a year at most) and the wax is as needed depending on the level of shine that I want.

I use colored creme polish from both Saphir and Meltonion! Both work for me but Saphir gives more pigment for me and yes it can fill the scuffs with the color better.

There is no problem with neutral and it is great for light colored shoes, but I prefer to just have a lot of different polish colors so I can always work on helping the color of the shoes as well as giving more depth to them by using a variety of shades from lighter to darker.

Yes, it was DW the one to mention B4 in SF long ago and I remember that it took him a while to reveal the name (I hope he gets at least free product from the manufacturer, lol). Then PBooth talked about Lexol being a similar product. So I am very thankful to them for the tips cause at that time I was using Creme Universelle as a conditioner and a bit of Renovateur for polishing my shoes.

I was one of the first "overseas" members to buy both B4 and Lexol from Amazon (paid crazy bucks for shipping them to Spain). I tested both and the results were better than expected compare to my waxy euro products.

Currently I just barely condition my shoes with Lexol or B4 (to me they are pretty much the same) and leave waxy conditioners/cleaners/cremme/balm...to apply on the welt and the outsole edge of my shoes.

PS.-B4 has a great desing and has a "blockage cap aplicator" (hope you understand me).

Just curious if Lexol Original leather conditioner as well as its Neatsfoot variant are okay for occasional conditioning, say once one or two months? Would you prefer Bick4 way above Lexol?

I used Lexol on shoes and boots I made for years. It's a good product. I think it has more water in it than Bick4. When I discovered Bick4 I knew immediately (by feel) that it was going to be my "go to".

I would not use Lexol-nf (homogenized neatsfoot) on dress shoes. It is oily...although less so than regular neatsfoot. But on oil stuffed leather or saddles, harness etc., once a year wouldn't hurt.